India in no hurry to clear Lanka arms requests

Colombo might have turned to Pakistan with a comprehensive list of weapons and other military hardware it wants to procure after India kept it waiting, but the UPA Government seems in no hurry to change the status quo.

Colombo might have turned to Pakistan with a comprehensive list of weapons and other military hardware it wants to procure after India kept it waiting, but the UPA Government seems in no hurry to change the status quo.

Of the various requests Sri Lanka made to Delhi over the past 18 months, very few items were actually cleared for transfer. While Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samarweera’s visit to India on May 7-9 is now confirmed, the Government is likely to maintain its stance.

While one reason for the Government dragging its feet is the LTTE, another is the lack of a comprehensive Indo-Lankan defence cooperation agreement, despite talks going on it for over two years now, according to Defence Ministry sources.

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Following the suicide attack on Sri Lankan Army Headquarters on April 25 and the perceived threat of another suicide attack by seaborne forces of the LTTE, sources said South Block is hesitant to sanction a ‘‘show of support’’—requested by the Sri Lankan Navy—in the area, by deploying Naval warships, mostly because of the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

On January 11, Lankan Navy officers attending an exercise in Port Blair, shortly after an LTTE attack had left 13 of their sailors dead, had told their Indian counterparts that a show of strength could be useful to deter the Tiger maritime suicide bombers.

The list Colombo had given to New Delhi for its defence forces includes:

• Maintenance contracts and spares for the Sri Lankan Air Force’s large MiG-27 ground strike fleet, laser-guided bomb upgrade kits, dumb bombs, penetration bombs, rocket pod systems and strafing ammunition. With no response from India on any of these, the Lankan government has gone to Pakistan for UAVs, cluster bombs, PGM upgrade kits, deep penetration bombs and rockets.

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• Ship-based mortars, ammunition, small fast-attack craft and sea-mines for the Sri Lankan navy. The government has only allowed the transfer of ammunition and some non-lethal stores.

• Multi-barrel rocket launcher systems, mortars, air defence artillery systems, 5.56 mm weapons, ground radars, night vision devices, armoured troop carriers, UAVs, Milan anti-tank missile jeeps and mine-protected vehicles for the Lankan Army. Apart from a pair of radars, nothing of significance has been transferred.

During his visit here, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister is slated to meet the National Security Advisor, among other top officers, and brief them on the latest situation on the island.